Trump says he wants their help on a tax bill

WASHINGTON» Hours after proclaiming on Twitter that Democrats are interested only in increasing taxes, President Donald Trump on Wednesday told a group of senators that he wants Democrats’ help in cutting taxes.

“The president made clear his preference for a bipartisan bill,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said after emerging from a closed-door meeting at the White House with Trump that included Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee.

“We’re going to give this a try and do the best we can,” said Cornyn, the panel’s chairman.

After the meeting, the White House released a statement that said, “The Administration looks forward to continued opportunities to reach across the aisle in an effort to provide tangible quality of life improvements for the American people.”

Wednesday afternoon’s conciliatory tone contrasted with Trump’s posts on Twitter early Wednesday morning. “The Democrats will only vote for Tax Increases. Hopefully, all Senate Republicans will vote for the largest Tax Cuts in U.S. history,” the president wrote.

Trump has both courted and browbeaten Democrats in recent weeks as he seeks support.

Trump and congressional Republicans are working on a plan that would slash the corporate tax rate and simplify taxes paid by families and individuals.

Though Trump and Senate Republicans expressed an openness to working with Democrats during the meeting, some Democrats came away from the gathering saying the outreach lacked substance, according to one aide who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Trump did not commit to make any changes that would scale back tax benefits for the wealthy, which has long been a demand for Democrats. Instead, Trump said Democrats had political incentives to get behind the plan, saying toward the end of the meeting that he wouldn’t want to be a Democrat in 2018 or 2020 who voted against a tax cut plan.